Which Harbeths?

op

compact 7’s are a lovely choice, enjoy!  (i also personally prefer them over the mon 30s)

you will need to play with placement and bass reinforcement to see if they please you full range, or, as many do, integrate in a pair of nice subs

op

i have not heard the mac mc302 but it may be voiced too warm to mate well with the c7, if the user desires more ’presence’... perhaps try a hegel or ayre amp - they are known to be very successful mates to harbeths, bring a little more life to the presence region without overdoing it

also, you have not disclosed your source

by and large, harbeths present music as an integral whole, many would say other more ’hifi’ speakers let you hear ’into’ the music more -- harbeths, from a bbc design heritage (like classic spendors, grahams, stirlings, etc etc) are trying to present music as one hears from a mid hall position in an acoustic concert hall, playing acoustic instruments in an orchestral or chamber group type of setting ... if you have been to a music event like that, you feel the music comes as you as a fairly unified wave of energy, with cymbals, string leading edges, vocals revealing details in a gentle way, there is less sparkle and ’etch’ - similarly bass is smooth energy and has a reverb component, there is not too much ’slam’

harbeths more recent iterations like anno and xd versions are trying to give the user more ’hifi-ness’ but overall, compared to other makes, the balance is still as i stated above - it has been many years since i had my totem 1's, and if totem's overall voicing has stayed roughly the same, i would say totems provide a much more etched, energetic treble 'presence' region...

thus it is important to do as a poster below states -- give the speakers time, let you ears adjust, and then see if you enjoy them more... this is somewhat of a less-is-more experience, the beauty is in the subtlety and depth

op

give em a little time, but if they don’t do much for you, sell em off

if you bought at a halfway smart price, there should be takers without you losing much $

new harbeths are indeed expensive, but even so, there are plenty of buyers all over the world

but like any other product in the world, one thing may be loved by many, but still may not be right for some - there are indeed many speakers much more expensive than new harbeths with very happy customers, harbeth owners would say those speakers make their ears bleed

@ddafoe

What if your reference to live music isn’t unamplified acoustic music; is Harbeth still the best in this case? i.e. the many other modern HiFi speaker manufacturers are just plain wrong?

good questions, and certainly no right and wrong, just different objectives for sonics in design of various speakers (and thus no 'best' in any objective sense, only 'right for you' and/or 'right for me')

it is indeed an important distinction to understand WHAT kind of live music one listens to as points of reference, obviously an umamplified chamber group or piano recital will sound very different from a rock o blues band in a smaller club, or a live rihanna or springsteen concert at an amphitheater or say the meadowlands

most venues, even small ones, amplify the music with industrial grade solid state amps and use large horn loaded speakers for some or all the artists, depending on seating position, one will hear a mix of direct unamplified sound vs amplified

i think this is why hifi loudspeakers also span such a very wide range of sonic traits... some more alive, emphasizing slam and speed and edgy clarity, others (like spendor vandersteen and harbeth), with a warmer fuller slower less edgy tone and nature to the sound

op

some further points to you

1. what you are hearing is real, but i think perhaps for a different reason than you are surmising... apparent midrange clarity is sometimes reduced when a speaker has a warmer more forward midbass response - your little rainmakers have a much leaner midbass than the c7, thus the impression of a less smeared midrange... it is also no surprise at all that the rainmakers have excellent midrange, equal to the harbeths - they are a good speaker from a good company, carefully voiced, and with its excellent 5 in driver it is ideal for midrange reproduction at reasonable volumes, this is true and the towering strength of many a smaller well made standmount.... now, what you give up you already know, the little guys can’t hold it together as well when playing louder and the music is less rich and complete top to bottom -- so in effect, what you give up when you go from a lesser monitor to a better, more full range speaker is not an equal reduction of quality in all piece-part aspects of the sound, but the overall integrity of the presentation and significant loss of some aspects at the expense of others

2. if you like your totems alot (seems like you do) - couple other ideas are keep em and add a subwoofer (or two, even better)... subs added to an excellent satellite pair can do wonders, and i mean wonders for the overall presentation, ... or...

3. as a corollary to 2, why don’t you just move up the totem line - mani 2s, forests, hawks?  seems like there is a nice synergy in place with the slightly warmly voiced mac amp and the slightly uptilted totems... the harbeths (and c7's in particular) are typically best with an amp that has a little more zing and speed

good luck, hope you’re having fun through the process

@yogiboy and @arafiq are good heads, well known participants, credible contributors here

i would just say here, that my experience is opposite from theirs, i prefer the compact 7 to the mon 30... it’s possible i hadn’t set up the mon 30s in their ideal setup (room and ancillaries) when i had a set, and likewise it might be that they did not either with their experience with the c7 - i have no doubt set up well, matched well in system and room, both can produce exemplary enthralling music

it just shows what one should expect in this hobby/pursuit, people have different tastes, experiences -- all worth sharing, no right or wrong

btw - both models are longstanding stalwarts in the harbeth line, both descendants of original bbc designs, both very good sellers, used and loved by many many all around the world

op

glad you found the right connection to your mac amp... and more glad that your enjoyment of the speakers has been taken up a notch